To the editor:
During the fall of 2011, my sister and her husband were very concerned about the lake on Sunset Drive.
She and her husband have lived there for 10 years and her son and his family have lived there for 13 years.
The lake has two earthen dams, made up entirely of soil from the excavation when the lake was built.
The road started to crack and drop about two feet.
Two years ago, the lake overflowed and covered the road. That winter, part of the lake iced over. During the spring, more water ran over the road, making it weaker and more likely that one of the dams was in danger of breaking.
For almost a year, my sister and I have communicated with city, county and state officials trying to find out who is responsible for this lake or who owns it.
Magistate Kevin Eldridge has done extensive research trying to find anything that would show responsibility or ownership of the lake. He has also been in contact with Beth Stuber, our county engineer. She has authorized that elevations be taken to see how much the dam has dropped.
... Eldridge has continued to research on the problem and has kept in contact with us about the environmental impact this would have on the entire county if not taken care of.
Eldridge placed a petition before the city council on behalf of Sandy and Ernie McKinney, allowing only the homes between Ky. 53 and the second dam to have access. This would have greatly decreased the danger of the dams breaking and given our elected officials time to find a resolution to the problem.
A property owner that does not live on Sunset Drive within the specified area complained to the council that they had always used the road.
Apparently, they can’t understand what kind of impacts this would have on our county environmentally and financially, especially residents living around the lakes.
No one seems to understand or care what hardship this would place on all the owners of homes in this area.
The city council denied the petition and the road remains open to anyone that wants to use it.
Not if — but when — the dams break, how many will say they had no idea it was happening?
Rebecca Bradley
La Grange